Trivial Perfruits
Posted on September 24th, 2012
Today’s PSA: what is a fruit?
I knew tomatoes were a fruit and have since I was young (admittedly, I went through a phase where I thought they were a fruit when they were raw and a vegetable when they were cooked, but I grew out of it at around 10). I’d argue with people about the fruitiness of tomatoes. But if you’ve ever grown tomatoes, you know that, yes, they’re the ripened ovary of a plant. Ergo, fruit.
But what about these guys?
- pumpkins
- cucumbers
- zucchini
- eggplant
Yes! Fruits!
But while they are true fruits, they aren’t culinary fruits. Instead, they’re classified as culinary vegetables — which means 8-10 year-old me (or all the people I argued with) wasn’t far off, because tomatoes are culinary vegetables, too. And some culinary fruits (like rhubarb) are classified as fruit even though they’re really vegetables.
Seriously! Check out the whole list. My mind was blown. I’ve been telling everyone about pumpkins all weekend long, and Highland Lawyer told me some of the others. I had no idea.
I had a conversation along these lines at work a couple of weeks ago. Not so much of the “culinary vegetable/fruit” talk, but mostly, people were even baffled when I said that tomatoes were, in fact, a fruit.
They continued to name fruits/vegetables, and I would classify them to the best of my knowledge. Zucchini? Fruit. Okra? Fruit. Celery? Vegetable. Their minds were blown, and I few of them had to verify via smartphone. Luckily, I was correct on all my guesses.
I didn’t know OKRA. See? My mind continues to be blown! It’s like a whole new world now.
I’ve always found the differences between technical fruit and veggies and culinary fruits and veggies to be really interesting. Also interesting: What is and isn’t a berry.
I am almost scared to have my mind opened about berries. But…to Wikipedia I go!
cashews – nuts or fruit?
I’ll leave that to better minds, since I’ll die if I eat one.
wow. I’m totally confused now!